Inside Mad Men star John Slattery’s private life with actress wife and their son

On August 13, 1962, John was born in Boston, Massachusetts to his parents Joan and Jack Slattery. He has five siblings and was raised Irish Catholic. While his first dream was to become a professional baseball player, John also loved acting, receiving a degree in fine arts from the Catholic University of America in 1984.

While their initial meeting is not publicly known, John married Talia Balsam on December 30, 1998 in Kaua’i, Hawaii. Before the two got together, Talia was married to George Clooney. She and the Jay Kelly actor divorced in 1993 after four years of marriage.

In 2019, John opened up to Closer Weekly about his relationship with Talia: “I just found the right person, you know, I lucked out. I guess marry someone you like. We get along well, we always have, and I guess being in show business, some people say it’s difficult. 

He continued: “I don’t know. We understand the rhythms of this life, which aren’t easy sometimes and there’s insecurity. You’re not sure where you’re going to be. So I don’t know. I got lucky.”

On May 13, 1999, just a few months after John and Talia tied the knot, they welcomed their son, Harry Slattery. While the parents do not share much about their son, he has acted alongside them.

In 2024, John, Talia, and Harry starred in the Pulitzer Prize–winning family drama The Subject Was Roses in New York City. John and Talia played husband and wife, Netty and John Clearly, with Harry starring as their son, Timmy Cleary.

“This is a unique position for all of us—a good play, good parts,” Talia told Purist. In the same interview, John explained: “[Our family friend] Victor [Garber] discovered Harry. Harry can act! This is the perfect part for a young actor: well-written, funny and it gets nasty.”

Throughout Mad Men‘s seven seasons, John became friends with the lead, Jon Hamm. “You could grow to hate each other or grow to love one another,” Jon told People in 2023. “We became great friends.”

During the summers, Jon and his wife, Anna Osceola, stay “around the corner” from John and Talia. For John, he told the outlet: “The older I get, the more I’m aware of the passage of time. Knowing this whole thing is finite and there’s a winnowing list of people with whom you want to spend your life. I just enjoy Jon’s company. I value it.”